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Desmond's success comes from staying even

Desmond's success comes from staying even

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By Bill Ladson
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MLB.com |

CLEVELAND -- Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond has been hot during the month of June and had seen his batting average climb to .290 entering Saturday's action. Desmond also came in tied for the team lead with 32 RBIs.

Defensively, Desmond has played outstanding at shortstop lately, entering Saturday error free since April 21 against the Mets.

"I haven't changed anything [on offense]. I'm still sticking to my same approach, which is to be aggressive, hit the ball and just try to put the barrel on it," Desmond said. "Sometimes you get hits, sometimes you don't get hits. Sometimes you field the ball, sometimes you don't. That's baseball. That's the way it goes. I'm just trying to take the good with the bad. Just trying to stay even keel."

Last season, Desmond made the All-Star team but didn't play because of a left oblique injury. Asked if he would like to make the All-Star team this year, Desmond said, "I consider the All-Star Game individual accolades. You can't take your whole team with you. I really don't get too much into that stuff.

"Obviously, it's a tremendous honor to be voted in. There are only a select few guys per year that get elected to go. But at the same time, that is individual stuff. I want to see my team succeed. I believe the true All-Star Game is in the World Series. That's when you have the best guys on the field. That's what I have my eyes set on."

Entering Saturday's action, the Nationals had not been living up to preseason expectations, with a 33-33 record. But Desmond believes the Nationals will turn things around.

For starters, according to Desmond, that are no divisions in the clubhouse and no one is in a panic.

"We are all good," Desmond said. "There has been no inconsistency within the clubhouse. I think that's the most important thing. If we can stay even keel in here, the stuff on the field will take care of itself. We have a good group of guys. We have a lot of winners and gamers in here. Eventually, just like everything else in baseball, it will turn around. We are not necessarily running out of time, but we need to start taking more steps in the right direction."